Comments on: What’s Stopping You From Using a Virtual Assistant?

By: Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistant — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:41:43 +0000

Thanks for this insightful post. I, am an independent contractor offering virtual assistance.

By: Sometimes you need help | IASECP

Sometimes you need help | IASECP — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:22:29 +0000

[...] at what Pat Flynn (you know I love this guy’s blog!) has to say about it in his blog post “What’s Stopping You From Using a Virtual Assistant”. Here are a few tips to help you get things ready for your first venture into getting [...]

By: jefferson faudan

jefferson faudan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:37:15 +0000

thanks for this… great and proud to be working as a Virtual Assistant… quality service for a price you can afford without compromising on its value…

By: Web Career Girl

Web Career Girl — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:19:45 +0000

I love this idea – and the whole hourly rate thing is just amazing! When I am earning a little more from my own projects there is no doubt that I am going to outsource, outsource, outsource!!

By: 5 Reasons to Outsource Your Passive Income

5 Reasons to Outsource Your Passive Income — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:54:01 +0000

[...] out what The Smart Passive Income Blog has to say about hiring a virtual assistant to help outsource your [...]

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:40:54 +0000

These new and upcoming freelance websites are very exciting. As a web designers and graphic designer I hope to build my personal portfolio through a few of these sites.

The great thing is during this economy many people want to try to save money by using freelance designers. At the same time, many people are out of work and are counting on freelance jobs to have some income coming in. It also will improve their portfolio to obtain that killer job once the economy does turn around. Sounds like a win win for all!

Although I hope to bid on some projects at 99design.com in the near future, I hope to place a project on there so I can have the full experience!

By: Barbaric Links: Summer’s Here Edition | The Corporate Barbarian Blog

Barbaric Links: Summer’s Here Edition | The Corporate Barbarian Blog — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:58:14 +0000

[...] Pat at Smart Passive Income wants us to try virtual assistants; [...]

By: Francis

Francis — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:18:46 +0000

Hi Pat,
I am in the process of making a website and was wondering your thoughts about experimenting with this VA. In regards to web design and also uploading the content.
Anyfeed back would be great and also suggestions of where to find a good one. Thanks

By: Francis

Francis — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:56:56 +0000

Thanks Pat for a great post.
Cool!

By: Son "sam" Koral

Son "sam" Koral — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:40:14 +0000

Thanks for another great post!

I too was wondering who did your SEO work. Although I have some traffic that I built up, I can always do with more.
I wanted to know what are some of the things we’d want to as a prospective SEO person prior to hiring them? I mean, since you don’t know exactly how high google will rank you, can you ask them the steps that they would take to ensure that you get as high as possible?

In my case, my website, linked to my name above, has major competition when you do a search on google for “fathers” and “custody”. Is it possible to rank higher, moving other sites down? I currently rank 15 as of today (05-20-2009) but have gone as high as #9.
Will the SEO company tell you what they can do, or is it a “hush hush…that’s our secret!” type thing?

Thanks again for the great blog!

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:16:53 +0000

Hi Nick. Actually, it was seogenies, who I found via elance. I believe they do have a website: http://www.seogenies.com.

By: sid

sid — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:08:48 +0000

I’ve always considered using a virtual assistant but wasnt really sure if it was a good idea. I like the fact that you’ve used seo experts to outsource the traffic to your intheleed website.
thanks for the insightfull info.

By: Web Career Girl

Web Career Girl — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:02:23 +0000

Sounds like a really good idea – and amazing that you get such efficient work for that price per hour!

By: Nick Green

Nick Green — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:57:59 +0000

Sorry…I don’t think my question was posted…

I am looking to do almost the same thing for my own site…what VA did you use to submit Press Releases? I tried Get Friday, and it seems they do not have that expertise…

By: Pat

Pat — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:35:45 +0000

Hi Rachel,

Let’s see if I can answer your question:

-web design VA: I would guess a total of 40 hours, a weeks worth of his time
-SEO work: I really have no idea
-web research: what happens is they bill the time they spend on your project, so you can delegate exactly how much time you want them to spend on it. I usually do 8 hours at a time. Oh, and the reason I could find someone for $1.67, is because they are from the other side of the world, where $1.67 in American Dollars is about the same as their working salaries in their home countries.
-voice talent: about 40+ hours
-iphone application: about 1 month, 8 hours per day

Hope this helps!

By: pfincome

pfincome — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:42:05 +0000

I outsourced my logo and graphics as well for PFI. I am horrible with graphics so this was a simple decision for me to make.

By: pfincome

pfincome — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:38:43 +0000

I have outsourced a few ghost writing articles for a niche blog I worked on last year. I used Elance and thought it was a very rewarding experience. The problem I had was that I didn’t do research on what I really wanted which ended up costing me money.

I am now close to outsourcing some more niche articles through Elance and possibly a new niche website. I am planning only to use passive income funds generated thus far as my budget. That way I can recycle my positive cash flow back into income producing assets.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:01:34 +0000

Just out of interest – do you have any idea how much time the VA put into each job? You say how long it would have taken you to do it yourself, but a VA specialising in that field should take less time.

I don’t know exactly how odesk works, but I am surprised that people are willing to hire their skills and time out for such a low rate

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:14:18 +0000

I like your idea of utilizing a VA that has had a lot of good reviews. My next door neighbor is a small business person; he was somewhat disillusioned: bottom line, stated that he got what he paid for. But maybe he did not do enough research. I will be keeping this post, and your experience, in mind for the future.

By: Pat

Pat — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:37:58 +0000

I started using a VA before my eBook came out. I was already making a few dollars a month via Adsense, at this point – but the SEO help really did boost my adsense and future sales.

By: Pat

Pat — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:34:48 +0000

I agree, your logo looks great! Did you find him/her through 99designs.com or another website?

By: Steve @ Start-Up

Steve @ Start-Up — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:33:30 +0000

I’ve read Tim’s book as well where I was first introduced to the VA concept. I have yet to use a VA. I don’t want to spend money on things that I can do myself since I’m not making any money. If I was making money from my online ventures, I would consider using a VA to help.

Did you start using VA prior to earning income from your site?

By: Enrique S

Enrique S — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:06:42 +0000

I like doing things for myself, and try to learn even the most mundane skills. being new to blogging, I’ve tried to do most of it myself. The only thing that I outsourced so far was the logo and graphics design for my blog. This was a wise choice, as the person did a great job!

By: Sonny

Sonny — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:28:33 +0000

I have thought of having some kind of virtual assistant especially since most of this web design/seo stuff is new to me. However, I have enjoyed learning so much that I really want to keep going. Maybe if at some point I get to the point where it actually becomes work then I would seriously look into it.

By: Pat

Pat — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:28:27 +0000

Good question. This was something I was scared of at first too, especially when outsourcing our iPhone app idea. However, with the use of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), your ideas can be protected legally. Elance actually offers a sample NDA here:

http://help.elance.com/forums/30970/entries/34759

Also, I usually choose my VA based on their good feedback and reviews from previous clients. I think the last thing a VA would want to do is earn a bad reputation and probably end their VA career (which for some IS their career), for taking someone else’s idea. That beind said, they will understand and not be offended if you want them to sign an NDA.

Thanks for your comment! Great question!